Programmers for Freedom!
Perl is an object oriented, dynamic typed programming language. I like Perl because it gives you a lot of freedom. Perl doesn't rigidly enforce any particular programming style or software architecture. It doesn't forces you to think in the way that the language designer thinks you should be thinking about the problems that you're trying to solve. Larry Wall is far too smart to design a language like that, even if he does have particularly bad taste when it comes to the background colour for his web page. :-)
One of the best things about Perl is
CPAN.
CPAN is the Comprehensive Perl Archive network, a globally
replicated collection of open source Perl modules that perform all
manner of different tasks. I've written a number of Perl modules and dutifully uploaded them
for others to share and enjoy. You can download them all from my
CPAN directory.
I've given a number of talks and tutorials at the Perl Conference and have had a couple of
papers published in the conference proceedings.
I wrote this gentle introduction to using Perl on Mac OSX for a friend
of mine. It's aimed at Mac-wielding web designers or developers who need a
little extra hand-holding when it comes to using command line tools.